Approved
amount: $50/year
Seniors: $25/year
Students: free (side note from me: does this mean full-time only?)
Intern/Co-op: $10/year
The enrollment form was modified to reflect approved dues structure
and remove reference to National MARS Society.
Discussed Corporate Membership Discount --- possibly a contribution/offset.
Tabled for later discussion. Not included on this revision of
membership application.

Enrique
officially agreed to take on the Vice President's role.

P.O.
Box at Pineloch/ElCamino Post office will be renewed.

Membership
- Steve is taking care of this.

Paypal
account for Mars has been created and attached to Mollyguard.
Any spam or phishing type email received from PayPal, forward
to spoof@paypal.com

Membership
cards

Banquet:

About
66 tickets have been sold.
Tables sold: GHG, Bastian, Boeing, Jacobs, and possibly Lockheed
Balance in Mollyguard for the banquet as of the meeting time is
$1,165.
The program brochure for the banquet was reviewed.

Upcoming
Events:

BeBe
to get with Sylvia offline.
March 5-11: Civil Engineers in Space
Week of March 12: Women in Science -- Lunar Planetary Conference
at South Shore Harbour
12th - mixer at LPI
13th - at BeBe's house - all women members should try to attend,
bring something to snack on
April - next Popcorn series. Trying for either Apr 26 or 28 (Wed
or Fri). Sylvia to get speaker. Have at the Gilruth center.
May 27 - May mixer (with AIAA and other orgs)
Oct 4-10: Space Week
Agreed to sponsor League City Elementary for this project. Extra
funds from the banquet will be used for this.
Discussed possibly sponsoring another school for the Rover Project
(an AIAA project) and other schools with limited financial resources
(both public and private) for these and other projects.

Next
Meeting:

Saturday,
March 11, 2006
Sylvia Munzer's house at 4703 Sterlingwood Way in Pinebrook
Time TBA

Bay
Area Economic Development has a cable show (1 hr/wk), sometimes
has aerospace info.

We
could provide content, ideas for the show.

Think
about partnership with businesses: possibly Scott Bleisath
of Rocket Town (order t-shirts/polos through him, he stocks
a few extra, we get a few percent from those sales) or Ignite
Foundation’s catalog (space-related fundraising for
non-profits).

Through
Scholastic’s book club, scholastic.com/space
($4.95 for first book, $13 thereafter)

NASA
Alumni League is looking for 10 schools/year to sponsor for
a Challenger Center Mission.

A
NASA Alumni League partnership would be advantageous because
they can get high-profile speakers. We could partner or facilitate
their mentoring program (possibly with Rice or other universities).
Setting up a display table at one of their events would be
good publicity.

We
should have a newsletter for the website every month.

Upcoming
Events:

September
29: Breakfast viewing of SpaceShipOne’s first flight
in the quest for the X-Prize, Gilruth Center, Johnson Space
Center.

Action
Items:

Carl
will ask the mailing list if anyone is willing to help with
Treasurer duties and financial forms.

Marianne
will send Stacy the hyperlink to the NASA site listing state
resolutions in support of the Vision.

Stacy
will post a request for members to send thank-you notes to
state senators for supporting the Vision-support resolution.

Patt
will add thank-you notes to the letter-writing table at the
Mars Society conference.

Marianne
will forward the RFI info to Patt.

Patt
will bring up the RFI at the Mars Society steering committee
meeting next week.

Bebe
will give Marianne the contact info for the Gilruth Center
for planning the Sept 29 breakfast event.

Steve
will work on format for email to general membership.

Tam
will send a sample of a monthly newsletter to Carl.

Next
Meeting:

September
25th

Adjourned
at 4:00 pm

Amiee
Quon

Business
Meeting
March 13, 2004

The
officers of the Mars Society of Houston met at The Outpost, Clear
Lake, Texas.

The
officers of the Mars Society of Houston met at Mission Burritos,
Houston, Texas.

The
meeting was convened at 3:11 pm.

Attendance:

Carl
Carlsson
Stacy Clifford
Tam Czarnik
Steve Jordan
Amiee Quon

Officer
Reports:

President:
Carl Carlsson

Welcome
letter to membership/soliciting involvement

No
new responses

Upgraded
display

Has
picture frames for a new, more durable convention display

Is
taking ideas on how to make the display

Vice
President: open

Treasurer:
Marianne Dyson, assistant

501(c)(3)

no
further progress

checking
account

no
further progress

Lockheed
Martin invoice for August event (Carl to pursue)

Carl
created a draft invoice that asks for a check payable
to the Mars Society of Houston, care of the national Mars
Society

Secretary:
Amiee Quon

no
issues

Membership:
Steve Jordan

Seven
new members as a result of the Chang-Diaz and AIAA talks

There
were two email bounce-backs from the new list

Ideally,
members will receive ~2 emails per month

Webmaster:
Stacy Clifford

The
banquet sign-up link is now online

In
the future, most submissions for the website should be in
.pdf format.

Political
Action: Tam Czarnik

Dr.
Robert Zubrin is testifying before Congress next week. MSOH
members should contact Kay Bailey Hutchison's office in support
of the legislation. Contact information is available on the
website.

In
recent testimony to the House Science Committee, three of
five scientists supported a trip to Mars. MSOH members should
contact members of the House Science Committee in support
of the legislation. Contact information is available on the
website.

Carl
is still trying to get an appointment with Rep. Sheila Jackson
Lee.

Events
Coordinator: Bebe Kelly-Serrato

The
banquet has been planned.

The
MSOH officers decided to offer the MSOH discount to AIAA members
for the banquet.

Old
Business:

Rep.
Lampson's Space Exploration Legislation (re-introduced)

MSOH
members should use the web site's link to sign the petition
in support of Rep. Lampson's legislation.

Midwest
vs. Wild West Challenge

Illinois
currently has 0 points, Houston has 25.

New
Business:

Idea
for class:

Create
a class where students study currently available data on space
radiation, microgravity, and propulsion. From the data and
forum-type discussions with NASA scientists, students will
report on the feasibility of long-duration spaceflight and
ways to mitigate risks.

The
most recent AIAA speaker expressed interest in repeating his
presentation at Rice.

Upcoming
Events:

November
6, 2003: Banquet at Bay Oaks Country Club

December
20, 2003: Christmas Party at Dick Edwards' and Anita Gale's
house

Bebe
will try to get a $150 donation to cover the 501(c)(3) filing
fee.

Carl
will write a welcome email for new members.

Carl
will put together a "How to get involved" page for
the web site

Carl
will write a short "Message from the President"
for the web site

Marianne
and Bebe will work out how to lend class-sets of Marianne's
book to teachers.

Bebe
will bring a sample business card to the next meeting.

Marianne
will make sure the USPS will deliver mail addressed to "Mars
Society of Houston" to the P.O. Box.

Bebe
will contact Maggie Zubrin to get a Robert Zubrin quote for
the Mars Music CD.

Ongoing
Action Items:

Tam
will track progress on the Ohio challenge.

Steve
will keep the meeting sign-in book (to be used for the book
raffle)

Carl
will print out the Action Item list (provided by Amiee) for
each meeting

Everyone
will get all Mars Society-related receipts to Marty.

The
chapter will compile a teacher list and offer $250 to each
teacher (up to $5000 total) for students to go on a mission
at the Challenger Center. (money from the NASA Alumni League)

Adjourned
at 4:50 pm

Amiee
Quon (edited by Carl Carlsson)

"Chapter Challenge" Scoring System

[copied
from Mars Society web site 09-09-03]

Welcome
to the Mars Society's 2003-4 Chapter Challenge; congratulations
on challenging an opponent, or accepting their challenge!
Please report any scorable activity to me at least once a month;
cumulative scores will be displayed on a webpage linked to the
Mars Society website, so you can keep an eye on the competition!
Current scores are here.
Here's the list of scorable activities:

1.
Public Outreach

1
point for every display table or presentation about the Mars
Society, its projects and/or research.

1
point for every ten contacts made (name & email address
recorded & relayed to Headquarters)

2
points for every member interviewed on radio/television/newspaper
concerning Mars exploration ('Mars Society', "Robert
Zubrin" and/or "The Case for Mars" to be mentioned
at least twice)

2.
Political Activism (Meetings with Elected Representatives)

4
points for every staffer met with

5
points for meeting with actual Representative

3.
Scientific Research ('Mars Society' to be mentioned in the title)

2
points for every article published in a non-peer-reviewed
periodical describing past or present research in the Mars
Society.

3
points for articles published in peer-reviewed journals

4.
Support to the Mars Society

1
point for every $100 of cash contribution collected

1
point for every $200 of in-kind contribution collected

1
point for every evening spent on Mission Support

5.
Membership

1
points for every member renewed

2
points for every new member joined.

Efforts
will be regarded as cumulative, so that (for instance) 5 $20 contributions
or 2 informational tables generating 10 contacts each would each
be worth 1 point.

The
convention took place over 4 days in the Eugene Hilton. It was
nice to have all the sessions in one location. I attended the
4th annual convention at Stanford University two years ago. While
the campus was beautiful, it was a chore to have to walk across
campus to try to attend various sessions.

Each
day had plenary sessions in the large meeting room until lunch.
In the afternoons, four separate tracks were held in smaller venues,
with each track composed of half-hour presentations. The tracks
included papers on topics including Education/Outreach, Technology,
Mars Analog Studies, Philosophical Implications, Geology/Biology
and Funding Alternatives.

I've
provided a summary of the plenary sessions below:

Thursday:
Dr. Robert Zubrin, MS President- The Crisis Facing NASA in the
Wake of the Columbia Report
Dr. William Clancy - NASA's Intelligent Systems Research at MDRS
Greg Bear, Sci-Fi author - "Biosphere 21.5": The Microorganisms
We Depend On and How They Might turn on Us

Friday:
Dr. Albert Haldemann - The Science of Spirit and Opportunity
Dr. John Grunsfeld - A Visit to Hubble with Astronaut John Grunsfeld

Starting
now, mass-emails should be in one format (to be set up
and distributed by Steve Jordan).

All
addresses should be in the BCC field to protect privacy.

There
should be an option to unsubscribe by sending an email
to a certain address.

Two
distribution lists will be generated: one for officers,
one for the general membership.

Public
Service Announcement

Should
be designed as a national PSA so local chapters only need
to tweak the end to mention the chapter.

Should
be about 30 seconds

Get
the JSC Public Affairs Office (PAO) to help with suggestions

Creation
of PSA ad hoc committee considered, but declined for now.

Fall
Banquet

September
25 at Bay Oaks Country Club.

Members
are $20, non-members are $25, students are $15.

Astronaut
Bonnie Dunbar will be the keynote speaker.

Bebe
will start publicizing it in mid-August.

Schedule
for upcoming general meetings

Franklin
Chang-Diazs presentation at Rice has been approved.
Itll be on October 16 and strictly on the VASIMR
engine.

Bebe
has asked to have either Don Henninger or Gretchen Thomas
give a talk on the INTEGRITY project at JSC in November
and at Rice in May. (INTEGRITY will be an integrated test
facility that will run simulated surface-landing missions.)

Mike
Ewert will talk about his solar refrigerator (for which
he got a patent) at JSC in February and at Rice in April.

The
Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) conference is in March,
so there wont be a Popcorn Series lecture that month

Add
to list of potential projects/meeting topics for general membership
meetings

Could
make the shell of the Canadian Pressurized Rover into
a traveling exhibit and drive it to museums around the
countrycall it the Marsmobile

Could
put it in a parade, i.e. the Rodeo Parade

Status
of Ohio Rivalry Proposal

Is
a goCarl Carlsson suggested getting a 10-gallon
cowboy hat and throwing down a Texas challenge to the
Ohio delegation at the national convention

The
challenge would last one year and could be on new
membership, (good) media exposure, etc.

Managing
Action Items

Bebe
has a spreadsheet that could be used to manage open, in
progress, and closed action items.

New
Business:

Bylaws

Marianne
put together a bylaws document for the chapter. This is
required to apply for 501(c)(3) non-profit status.

Bebe
suggested April for officer elections. Marianne is in
favor of a calendar year or school year election schedule
because thats how most people operate, plus there
will be more lectures and events during the school year.

Tentatively
decide to have elected officers immediately take office,
eliminating lame duck officers

Tentatively
decide to have officer elections in November or December.

Vote
to accept the bylaws as-is and amend them later as necessary:
Motion by Carl Carlsson, seconded by Bebe, passed unanimously.

501(c)(3)

The
national Mars Society is a non-profit organization, but
they cant extend the non-profit status to local
chapters.

Marianne
suggested also applying for the H option of
501(c)(3) which will allow the chapter to spend up to
4% of its funds on political activities

The
chapter needs an address before it can apply for non-profit
status. Marianne suggested sharing a PO box with the local
National Space Society (NSS) chapter

Cost
is $120/year, each organization would pay $60/year.

Its
at the 77062 post office on El Camino Blvd at the
Pineloch intersection.

Bank
Accounts

The
chapter needs a checking account to pay for the banquet.

The
credit union will allow businesses to open accounts
if someone signs a DBA, which effectively opens an
account in one persons name.

Until
the chapter is granted non-profit status, any bank
accounts will be taxed.

Bebe
requested reimbursement of $160 of personal money she
spent on last years banquet; this should be brought
up again when we actually have some money.

Miscellaneous

Patt
asks for volunteers to copy handouts

Carl
Carlsson will copy handouts for the next meeting.

Upcoming
Events:

August
7, 2003: John Connollys How Good Mars Science
Became a Bad Mars Movie presentation at the Gilruth
Center for aerospace industry co-ops and Mars Society members

August
22-24, 2003: Ballunar Liftoff at NASA JSC

August
23, 2003: Mission to Mars at HMNS (Houston Museum of Natural
Science)tickets are sold-out for the Challenger Mission

August
27, 2003: Mars Approach Party at the Lunar and Planetary Institute
(3600 Bay Area Blvd, on the corner of Middlebrook Dr.)7
pm til ?

Rep.
Lampsons Space Exploration Legislation  Carl
Carlsson reviewed an email update on recent Mars Society and
NSS visits to Congress. The update is included as an attachment
to these minutes.

Web
Hosting  Stacy confirmed that the domain www.marshouston.org
is up and running. Check it out. Stacy will contact the MS
Webmaster to have this new url linked form the MS web site.
For now we will maintain content on both servers, but may
decide to just maintain one after a few months have passed.
MSOH officers can provide Stacy with a request to have MSOH
email forwarded to their personal inbox; if you want this,
provide him with your preferred username, password, and forwarding
address.

Public
Service Announcement  The CD provided by Steve Jordan
had some good examples. Some suggested approaches might include:
serious (patriotic or logical; condense one-minute
Congressional speech by Congressman Cooksey, or Do you
wonder why we achieved so much in the 1960s but have
been going around in circles ever since ?), or
funny (The future is a big rip!; If you
want to communicate with little green men and wear tinfoil
hats, we are not the group for you; or playing off a
conversation between kids). Before we put a lot of effort
into this, it was agreed that we need confirmation that, as
a non-profit organization, our ad will qualify as a PSA and
that we can expect radio stations to actually play it.

Fall
Banquet  Tabled for now. This may end up being a
general membership meeting; we have a date reserved for the
Gilruth Center in September. It was suggested that a great
topic may be a presentation by local MS members who have spent
time at the MDRS. Those individuals include Jonathan Dory,
Jennifer Knowles, Steve Jordan, Don Baker, and at least one
other individual whose name I dont have.

MSOH
Officer MS Dues  We continue to encourage our officers
to maintain their membership in the Mars Society as well.

New Business:

Format
for email distributions to general membership - Carl will
ask Steve to set up an email address book listing for local
Mars Society members. This is necessary to efficiently forward
items which the Mars Society is forwarding for distribution.
There also needs to be a standard template indicating why
the individual is receiving this email, and who to contact
to be removed from the list. The distribution list should
not be visible to those receiving it, for privacy purposes.

May
general membership meeting details  We settled on Thursday,
May 29 at 7 pm as our target. BeBe will try to get a suitable
room at Rice University. Marsaffs is another option.

Establishing
a checking account  Depending upon the response at the
May General Membership Meeting, BeBe will look into establishing
a checking account and securing grant money.

Begin
listing potential projects/meeting topics to initiate discussion
at general membership meeting  Here is a list of those
that have been suggested to date (we should keep a running
list in the minutes):

Collaborate
with another chapter (Austin?) on a robotics project,
perhaps a prototype for exploration of lava tubes on Mars

Sponsor
an MDRS experiment, perhaps an astronomical observation/image
processing project involving a local astronomy club

Sponsor
a Mars-related Space Week event

Actively
support the annual Mars Settlement Design Competition

Upcoming
Events:

There
will be an upcoming Rotary dinner that will include a Space
Communications Award. Marianne will attend, and BeBe
might also. It will be an opportunity to meet a few individuals
with experience in getting the message out.

Propose date/time/location for next meeting:

TBD
after May general membership meeting

Action Items:

BeBe
will schedule a meeting room for the May General Membership
Meeting and communicate location back to me as soon as possible.

BeBe
will check with Maggie Zubrin for updates to political action
efforts.

BeBe
will prepare a thank you letter to Stacys boss (Philip
OHara, President/Owner of Directory One) for hosting
our website.

BeBe
(with help from Marianne) will look into establishing a checking
account and getting some grant money to work with (wait to
see how the May meeting goes first).

Stacy
will contact the MS Webmaster to update the link to the new
website.

Stacy
will post meeting details on the website as soon as they are
confirmed.

Carl
will develop meeting program, including assisting John Connolly
as necessary with presentation "How a good science fiction
movie becomes a bad mars movie".

Carl
will forward address list for local MS members to Steve with
request to set up email address book listing and template
for efficient email distributions.

Steve
will verify that our organization meets the requirements and
we can expect to get a PSA played on the radio.

Steve
will develop a list of publications, TV channels, etc. where
we can advertise the meeting in their "community events"
calendar. Other suggestions for getting the word out are welcomed.
(Please plan to have this ready at least 2 weeks before the
meeting so we have time to get the word out.)

Marianne
will get BeBe a contact email for an NSS speaker (Elliot Pullman?)
who may be able to provide guidance for us on how to successfully
get our message out.

MOSH
officers who want a marshouston.org address can
forward a preferred username, password, and forwarding address
to Stacy. He can set it up so that messages are forwarded
to your personal address automatically.

Adjourned at 2:30 pm

Carl
Carlsson

________________________________________________________________

Here is a report on the NSS Congressional Outreach events last
week.
....
-Bruce Mackenzie

Mars Society Members Conduct Joint Congressional Outreach
with NSS
During the week of April 6, a group of Mars society members led
by Mike Turner traveled to Washington DC to take part in a joint
capitol hill outreach activity with the National Space Society
(NSS). The event, which commenced with a forum on space policy
organized by the NSS, continued with joint walking tours through
the halls of congress by teams of NSS and Mars Society members.
The citizen lobbyists from both groups carried a strong message
to America's political representatives that the nation needs a
space program that is going somewhere, and that the human exploration
and development of space beyond low Earth orbit needs to be the
goal.

Following
the event, Mars Society delegation leader followed the following
report:

"Our
Trip to DC was VERY fruitful. We learned pretty much everything
we need to know to move forward in our mission here. We have identified
most of the key reps, and all of the key issues (many of which
are very much Mars related). We sat in on the NASA appropriations
hearing, and listened to all of the congressman who are in charge
of appropriating funds for space exploration give their views
on space. Across the board we heard some good support for future
space exploration, including what seemed to be very strong support
for PROJECT PROMETHEUS. There were even some congressman that
were interested in hosting the project in their districts. And
another high point we noted, Congressman Simpson gave his view
that NASA lacked a clear goal, and that Mars just might be that
goal."

"We
came across this, and MUCH MUCH more excellent information to
our cause. So now the next immediate step falls to the conference
delegation. We need assess our information and set out a report
that
outlines all of the key issues and reps, and gives a forward strategy
for our plan of action in the future. Once we have that, we can
set this endeavor into motion, most of the reports should be finished
by the end of next week. Soon thereafter we plan to craft a hard
policy which will include new approaches, specific funding and
congressional items we support, updates to the briefing book.
We then plan to sit down with Rob Zubrin (and hopefully some SC
members) and discuss it with them, then finalize the agreed items.
Soon thereafter we'll be
going into full swing and start going after the key men and women
of congress."

"And
let me say personally, that I think we truly can make ground towards
our cause. Through our meetings with our elected representatives
in Washington, we did get the true feeling that there are those
that will be willing to support what we have to say."

Following
the event, NSS Executive Director Brian Chase sent the following
note of thanks to the Mars Society contingent:

"Glad
you and the other Mars Society members could attend the NSS conference
last week. I think it was a great opportunity to continue building
a routine presence of space advocates on the Hill. I think it's
critical we establish coalitions where possible, and develop a
sophisticated political strategy and message that builds our
credibility yet still moves us towards our common objectives.
Robert and I had a good discussion last week while I was in CO
Springs and we're going to continue chatting about areas of cooperation
between Mars Society and NSS. I look forward to hearing from you
as your plans progress."

The
Mars Society strongly believes in working jointly with other organizations
interested furthering in the common goal of the exploration and
settlement of Mars. We look forward to further work with the NSS
urging congressional action to enable human exploration beyond
low Earth orbit, and invite all other organizations who
support this objective to join the campaign.

A
complete report on Mars Society political work will be presented
at the 6th International Mars Society convention, to be held in
Eugene Oregon, August 14-17, 2003. Conference registration is
now open at www.marssociety.org.
For further information about the Mars Society, visit our website
at www.marssociety.org

Rep.
Lampson's space exploration legislation. Marianne: Committee
memberships are in flux; need to wait for changes, then meet
with Tom DeLay, then Lampson. Carl: LA chapter (Tom James)
reviewed Lampson's bill, Carl would like to edit it to bring
to Lampson. Marianne will forward it to NSS Policy Committee.
NSS is coming up with a position and wants to work with the
Mars Society. BeBe: NASA Exploration dept. is developing an
operation blueprint for further Mars Exploration, including
Nuclear Propulsion (Project Prometheus). Carl and Marianne
will meet to work on editing a presentation, cc'ing to BeBe.

Trade
show display. Carl proposed having a better 'standing' display
for use as needed. Carl will check with a professional for
a donated or purchased display. Pat Czarnik has a model in
storage. Need to find standard booth dimensions for trade
shows. Marianne thinks it is too much investment for the local
chapter. Tabled for later.

Public
Service Announcements - Steve says radio stations will play
these for free. Carl will listen to a CD of award-winning
ads. Steve recommends 'He's So Hot'.

New
Business:

Membership
- Carl gave membership list to Steve, will try to e-mail.
Steve will tell Pat Czarnik which members are in the Houston
area. Carl asked for a map for an idea of geographic distribution.
BeBe knows someone who will help host a meeting in the Galleria
area. BeBe asked Steve to maintain anonymity of email addresses.

Carl
suggested getting an opinion from the membership about dividing
the meetings up.

Potential
Projects - tabled.

Web
Hosting - Stacy says we can buy MSOH.org for $10 and host
on site for free. BeBe wants to keep hosting on Mars Society
server. Alternate domain name of 'marshouston.org' was passed
by vote. Stacy will look into redirecting to Mars Society
server.

Bebe
moved that Carl be Vice President-elect immediately to be
President in September 2003. Marianne suggested 'Vice President'.
Motion passed.

Unpaid
memberships - BeBe requested a waiver for Stacy, asked for
the rest to pay national dues. BeBe suggested some local dues.
Carl suggested talking about dues at a general meeting.

Fall
Banquet - Semi-formal was agreed to. BeBe will get a speaker.
Everybody but the speaker pays for the meal. Must decide what
fraction goes to Mars Society and scholarships to Haughton
Island. 3rd week in September was agreed to. Theme 'Send Houston
to Mars' passed by vote.

Upcoming Events:

Washington
lobbying efforts:

Space
Legislative Conference - April 5-7

Prospace.org
March Storm - March 9-15

Other:

'Our
NASA' - March 14 - South Shore

Jennifer's
trip to Hab - March 8-16

Propose date/time/location for next meeting

April
26, 2003 at The Outpost

Review and Commit to Action Items

Carl
will send Tom James' write-up to Marianne

BeBe
will check on sponsorship for Mars Quest

Steve
will map out membership, correlate with congressional districts

Carl
will listen to PSA CD

Jennifer
will check on Mars Society exhibit at Museum of Natural Science
during Galileo exhibit.

Adjourned
at 2:00 pm

Grant
Davis (edited by Carl Carlsson)

Officers
Meeting
November 17, 2002

The
officers of the Mars Society of Houston met at Dons Seafood
Restaurant in LaFayette, LA. This was a joint meeting with the
Louisiana Chapter.

Louisiana
Mars Blog, maintained by Tom James, was mentioned at the outset.
(check it out at www.lamarssociety.org)

The
Mars Society (of Houston and elsewhere) needs a more impressive
physical display. It was proposed that such a display could
be kept in or near Orange, Texas (a central location to Houston
and much of Louisiana). This would allow both usage of the
display and construction costs to be spread over Mars Society
Chapters in Houston and Louisiana. Some good early suggestions
could include a large tri-fold display (easily stored, quickly
deployed, low cost, easily updated) or a model of the Devon
island/Mars habitat (one exists already). Perhaps we can find
one that is old or for some other reason very cheap and refurbish
it; the donor might be persuaded if it were tax deductible.

Although
the World Space Congress was sparsely attended (this was blamed
on the economy though it is probably also due to the fact
that we have made space exploration dull), the Mars Society
signed up 30 new members!

There
was discussion of some very interesting Robotic exploration
of lava tubes; see http://www.eisci.com/mothergoose/ms-iv/gus-msiv.html
for more information on "spelunkobots" (Gus Frederick
of Stanford calls them "Speleobots.) This might be a
project once we increase membership, perhaps in conjunction
with another chapter.

Next,
we addressed a problem: Why is it that MS chapters in smaller
cities have better turnout, more interest, and seem to do
more? Houston, which should be the crown jewel of the Mars
Society, has very few members who actually do anything, low
turnout at functions, etc. It may be Houston's sheer size
that balks us. Example: Stacy drives 50 miles to come to meetings.
It was proposed that we could have smaller chapters; actually
sub-chapters...a Mars Society of the Woodlands, Mars Society
of the Heights, Mars Society of Clear Lake, Bear Creek, Glendale,
Katy, etc. People wouldn't have to go as far to participate.
We might find ways to give people (especially kids) something
to do, something to take home and remind them of Mars and
keep it top-of-mind. (e.g., Popsicle sticks with stuff glued
to them - letting kids dress up like a Mars explorer.) Also,
instead of trying to do it all, and do it all at once, we
should focus on just one or two things and doing them well.
Like the dog chasing a car, what do you do when you catch
it? We need to be ready for lots of people to respond.

It
was proposed that we write and produce a Mars Society Public
Service Announcement. Radio stations are required to provide
free airtime for PSAs, and Mars Society's 401(c)(3) status
allows us to use this. If we were to produce a radio ad, what
message would we use? We can get Paul Christy to announce
it. We should produce two versions - one each for Houston
& Louisiana. What things do we want to say, how do we
need to say them? Stacy and someone else indicated that there
is information that's already being used by Mars Society on
its posters; this could be recycled and used as copy in the
PSA.

We
also need a new domain for people to go to that's easy to
remember.

We
could produce a mixed mode CD with audio (for playback in
CD players) and Mars Society data in info section; such a
CD could be handed out at the next WSC and other functions
for about $0.40 each; there are business cards that cost more.

There
was a brief discussion of a NASA Alumni who's building Mars
colony, but no other information was recorded on this topic.

Upcoming
Events:

None
discussed.

Propose date/time/location for next meeting:

TBD

Review and Commit to Action Items

Display

Stacy
 check website - Stacy will look for web site of a display-making
company; hopefully, from this we can make sure that any display
we build will work with normal Booth Requirements

Carl
 check with Tom James on status of his idea for an inexpensive
tri-fold display; check internet auctions for availability
of used trade show displays.

PSA

Steve/Martha
 check on PSA rules

Carl
 bring one-minute Congress speech on Mars to next meeting
as starting point for PSA

Website

Stacy
to check on alternatives

Adjourned
at 1:00 pm

Steve
Jordan (edited by Carl Carlsson

Officers
Meeting
September 14, 2002

The
officers of the Mars Society of Houston met at the Outpost Tavern
on Egret Bay Blvd.

Carl
convened the meeting at 1:00 PM. He said that BeBe had asked him
to fill the duties of President while she is recovering from an
accident.

New
Business:
Marianne is trying to get sponsors for the Space Exploration bill
co-sponsored by Rep. Nick Lampson. She encouraged everyone to
encourage everyone to write their representatives. Tom had a meeting
with Rep. Cooksey of Louisiana and will try to get back in touch
with him as he runs for the Senate.

Carl
and Tom are arranging a meeting between members of the New Orleans
and Houston chapters. An exhibit called "Mars Trek"
will be in Lafayette, LA in October and November and we might
get together there.

Upcoming
Events:
An event commemorating the 40th anniversary of Kennedy's moon
speech will be held at Rice University on Monday, September 23
at 9 AM at Rice Stadium. Marianne, BeBe and Grant will be attending.

The
NASA Alumni League Dinner will be on Tuesday, September 24 at
Space Center Houston. Dinner is at 7 PM. Cost is $25.

Kite
Day will be on Saturday, October 26 at George Bush Park starting
at 8 AM. Marianne said that NSS will be supporting it.

[Update:]
Astronomy Day will also be on Saturday, October 26 at the George
Observatory at Brazos Bend State Park.

Nick
Lampson will be speaking at the NSS Leadership Symposium at the
World Space Congress at the Hyatt Regency at 1 PM on October 15.
Cost for the banquet is $200, plus admission to the Congress which
is in the hundreds.

Addendum
10-7-2002: Carl proposes that the next meeting be held on November
2 in Lafayette in conjunction with the Louisiana chapter.

Meeting
was adjourned at 2:15 PM.

Grant Davis
Secretary
Mars Society of Houston

February
16th, 2002

Mars
Society of Houston Officers Meeting

The
officers of the Mars Society of Houston met at the Outpost Tavern
on Egret Bay Blvd. on Feb. 16.

BeBe
convened the meeting at 1:18 PM. She declared that Robert's Rules
of Order would be used and wanted a round-robin discussion.

AgendaRecruitment-BeBe put Steve in charge of everything related
to membership.

Marianne has some names of old members and will send them
to Steve to contact. Grant will help Steve contact members.

Steve
said he could get Public Service radio spots through his wife.
BeBe knows a producer and can get the spots recorded. Carl
knows a Congressional Candidate who has promised to make a
speech on Mars on the floor of the House if elected.

BeBe
said that the group needs a way to reach young people.

Marianne
mentioned local Honor Societies.

Carl
gives presentations to young people.

Grant
will contact Consortium on inviting Carl to speak.

Mission
Statement- Went around the table brainstorming for a mission
statement.

BeBe
will send out the ideas and wants the officers to draft a
statement.

Dues
- BeBe wants to institute dues for the local chapter yearly cost.
Members should check with their companies to see if they will
pay members' dues. The amount has not been decided.

Meetings-
BeBe suggested day and night meetings to give everyone who wants
to participate a chance to attend.

Carl
suggested a consistent time to get people into the habit of
participating.

Marianne
suggested a group activity and BeBe suggested a star party,
but that it will take time to organize.

The
next general meeting will be in April. John Connolly will
speak to the group about Emerging Technologies, which would
help with Manned Mars Missions.

Business
Cards- BeBe is trying to get cards donated to the club for
the officers (500 each).

Carl
had some for the Louisiana Chapter with a list of books and
web sites on the back.

Stacy,
Steve and Carl will meet to work out the details for designing
the business cards.

Lunar
& Planetary Conference- BeBe has a quote from South Shore
Harbor for a Hospitality Suite on Tuesday March 12 and Thursday
March 14 at the Lunar and Planetary Conference Poster Session.
There will be food, keg beer and a cash bar. There is a possibility
that Lockheed Martin will donate the funds for the room if the
Mars Society will provide volunteers to oversee the room. This
however, is not certain as of this meeting.

Carl
volunteered.

Merchandise-
BeBe is trying to get some 'Marvin the Martian' merchandise from
Warner Brothers for the Mars Society. Carl volunteered to help
out. We still need to contact WB directly and make sure this is
OK.

BeBe
suggested that the web site logo be used on Mars Society T-Shirts.
Carl will get a quote for having them made.

BeBe
needs volunteers for the World Space Congress, the Space Music
Festival on October 14 and the Space Rocks Concert on October
19. There is a meeting at Teague Auditorium on February 19 at
noon and at 3 PM as well as a party at 6 PM.

Marianne
says that the NSS Board of Governors will be meeting here
that week and that we might have a fundraiser with some of
the celebrities on the Board.

BeBe
will try to get Tom Hanks to attend.

Robby
and BeBe are working on a mall display with a kids karaoke contest.
BeBe is trying to get local celebrities to judge, including Linda
Etters who may also perform.

New Business
Marianne says that the primary election is March 12 and urged
people to get elected as a delegate to their district convention,
where they can propose planks on space. The planks need to come
from many districts and be alike to increase the chance that the
state and national platforms will adopt them. The district convention
is April 3.

Stacy
said that the procedure for being nominated is on the Mars
Society web site.

Note:
This is a disclaimer to present the fact that this is an officers
meeting and that nothing official has been concluded. Everything
we dream of doing still has motions to be considered. Please excuse
our lack of knowledge in some of these areas.

Meeting
was adjourned at 2:30 PM.

Grant Davis
Secretary
Mars Society of Houston

Jan.
17th, 2002

Houston
Mars Society
Hilton Hotel - Nassau Bay, Texas

The
Houston Mars Society held a meeting on January 17, 2002 At the
Nassau Bay Hilton. Public Relations officer BeBe Kelly-Serrato
presided. The meeting was convened at 12:16 PM.

Beatriz
introduced Chris Barnes, current President of the Houston chapter;
Norm Chaffee, President of the NASA Alumni Association, and John
Connolly, NASA Liaison to the chapter.

The
upcoming conference in Boulder was mentioned, along with a call
for volunteers and papers for the conference.

The
Mars Society is looking for $1000 company sponsors for the Utah
research station.

BeBe
will email the list of the final selection for officers. Please
note that most of the officers have volunteered. BeBe will also
ask for any volunteers to step forward and will set the officers
meeting for the month of February.

Speaker

BeBe
introduced Dr. Kelly Snook, who talked about her trip to the Houghton
crater research camp on Devon Island and the difficulties that
were encountered within the project.

Grant
R. Davis, Secretary

Meetings
for the Future:

The
meetings for officers will be held monthly for pre-planning purposes.
The meetings for the entire Chapter will be held Quarterly. The
officers will set the time and the place and the event so that
everyone is represented.

This
is our current board of Officers; we currently are in need of
three people to fill these slots: Public Relations Director, President
- Elect, and Project Science Officer, which is to be selected
by the officership once those individuals who want to participate
as such let us know about it.

Thanks
BeBe Kelly-Serrato, President, MSOH

The
following is an account of the January meeting by chapter member
Robby Gaines, excerpted from his Spotlight newsletter.

Last
week I was fortunate enough to attend a wonderful luncheon hosted
by the Mars Society. Spotlight reader Bebe, the Mars Society president,
invited me and any spotlighters that wanted to come along. The
lunch featured Dr. Kelly Snook, NASA scientist, that had spent
the summer at the NASA Mars research facility on Devon Island.
They setup base camp in a 23 million year old meteor crater. The
island is north of the Arctic circle. It is very cold and dry
which is close to the environment of Mars.

While
at Devon Island, NASA scientists (geologists, biologists, astronomers,
etc.) at NASA were given the task to explore the crater. The experiment
was to see if NASA scientists here in JPL labs in California could
look at satellite photos of the crater and pick out interesting
sites to visit. When they picked a site they could send a remote
control robot, an autonomous robot (intelligent robot) or an astronaut
to investigate the site. By doing this the team learned first
hand how difficult it is to interpret satellite photos and propose
a survey plan. It became quickly apparent that a robot only mission
would fail to find much. But it also proved that humans need the
extra eyes of the satellites and robots to work efficiently.

One
thing that was learned that probably will have no application
to a Mars mission. Many of the photos showed the astronauts in
their white "space suits" carrying backpacks and other
equipment. Part of this other equipment was a rifle. It seemed
that the local polar bears were very curious about these new "white
furred" creatures exploring their crater. One could only
hope that a Mars mission would or would not encounter such life
forms.

Discovery
channel was there and here is a link to a lot more information.
Discovery also has a broadcast that talks about the mission. Check
to see when it is on.

All
who were present introduced themselves and the current President
Chris Barnes explained his standing and stated that he would be
stepping down. Chris then turned the floor over to BeBe Kelly-Serrato
who is the PR Officer at this time. She is up for President but
there may be other nominees who may come forward. There is a sample
ballot of all the officer positions available for nominees to
be presented. If any alterations are necessary to adjust this
ballot please feel free to comment on this. Slots have been added
which will enhance the operation of the organization.

LPSC
Hospitality Suite March 11th to 15th was presented:

LPSC
conference was mentioned and the possibility of hosting a joint
or three way sponsorship by the Mars Society, Lockheed Martin,
and the NSS. The hospitality suite would be open for the two evening
Poster Sessions at South Shore Harbor Conference Center. Volunteer
Hosts from our local chapter here in Houston will need to be present
to greet guests and provide the hosting for the suite. This is
all an idea at the moment a proposal has to be drawn up with costs
expressed and then it needs to be presented and approved. We then
would have to take care of the contract with South Shore to get
it all arranged.

Possible
projects and other discussion:

Possible
projects, which are aligned with education outreach events, were
presented as possible chapter projects. Examples of funds awarded
in grants from organizations to other chapters were discussed
and there was discussion regarding the operation of the society.

Next
Meeting slated for speaker and Lunch:

The
meeting date for Dec 13th was set as the next meeting date. The
next meeting place will most likely be for a speaker and if we
can get a good attendance RSVP we will have a sit down lunch and
speaker planned for Dec 13th. We could also turn this into a Christmas
lunch meeting. Mars Society will invite an excellent speaker for
this meeting and maybe Sam Burbank's film to view. I will advise
all of the details as they unfold.

Questions
from the attendees: ???

Robert
Carroll asked a question regarding Space Policy for MARS and what
was going to be the case for Exploration for NASA. The question
was not answered, as we would have to defer this question to our
NASA ambassador who was tied up with folks from JPL today. Mention
was made of the fact that Representative Nick Lampson, who is
our current district representative for NASA matters, will be
redistricting over to Rep. Ron Paul, so this is something we will
need to keep an ear open for.

The
sample ballot that follows is only an idea of what I think we
should have. I would like input from the people who attended the
meeting. After officers are elected, the officership will decide
to include past presidents in major decisions. This will have
to be agreed to by a majority of the officers. Must be members.

Name
of Office

Length
of Office

Duties

Nominee
or Current Officer

President

2
years +

Leads
the group sets the agenda, and the tone for the organization

Chris
Barnes (Current)
BeBe Kelly-Serrato (Nominee)

President
Elect or Vice President

2
year + This person trains with the President and then takes
over the slot when he / she steps down

Helps
with the presidential duties and trains and serves with
the President in tandem

Marianne
Dyson (Current)

Administrative
Secretary

1
year +

Records
the minutes, consigns checks with the financial director
after approval is received by all officers

Grant
Davis (Nominee)

Financial
Officer (Treasurer)

1
year +

Tracks
and balances all funds for the organization. Signs all checks

Public
Relations Director

1
year +

Provides
all press releases for the MSOH Chapter announcements and
advertisements for the chapter meetings and social events.

BeBe
Kelly-Serrato (Current)

MARS
Web Site Master

1
year + this has usually been an appointed or applied for
position.

Provides
web design and posting of all pertinent materials. Posts
the minutes and all announcements for the MARS Society of
Houston.

Stacy
Clifford (Current)
Grant Davis (Nominee)

Liaison
NASA Ambassador

Appointed
only! Not term limited

This
officer is an appointed post, and is always a representative
of the NASA JSA Exploration Office. The duties of this officer
are to provide the group advice and direction as to the
rules regarding what is politically acceptable to NASA.

John
Connolly (Current)

Project
Science Officer

Selection
is by the board or officers, is by invitation. After elections
this officer is selected from a group of Scientists who
are presented for consideration. Service is unlimited.

The
Science Officer along with his committee chairs this working
group in the selection of scientific projects for the MARS
Society Houston Chapter.

None
presented until after January Officers will select from
those who apply.

Director
of Membership

1
year +

Tracks
all membership information, maintains mailing and email
lists reports to the financial officer membership status.
Prepares invitations for social events and handles the distribution
and RSVP's for the chapter.

August
19, 2001

Freeman
Memorial Branch Library 16602 Diana Lane,
Houston, TX

Attendees:
Chris Barnes, Stacy Clifford, Karen Mauer, Fred Rodriquez

Meeting
called to order on 2:45 PM 8-19-2001.

First
order of business was the meeting time issue.There has been some pressure from BeBe to change the meeting
time and date to an afternoon/evening time during the week.

Only
problem is that Chris Barnes cannot attend a weeknight time
due to his job (not a 9-5)

Possibly
two meetings may be necessary??

If
Bridget Galloway is to start a new chapter at Rice University,
Stacy believes that both chapters should be integrated/merged.

Suggestions
on chapter coordination

See
first, if Bridget will actually start a chapter

If
so, then what time/place?

Chris
does not want the chapter to be an exclusively college
chapter

A
college chapter tends to exclude outside personnel

Meeting
time/place won’t be changed for the time being unless it is
called to a vote

The
Mars Odyssey is scheduled to arrive at Mars orbit on Wednesday,
October 24th of this year.

Could
be called ‘2001.. A Mars Odyssey’

First
order of business is to nail down a place. (Rice?? – could
help in merging chapters)

The
Mars Society main site is still linked to the old site.

Stacy
will talk to Bruce Mackenzie about changing this

Also
need to list current contacts see below + BeBe

Need
to move the site to the Mars Society

We
have the three contacts needed (Chris, Stacy, Marianne)

Talked
about the Martian Dust storm that is subsiding

Atmosphere
was raised 30 degrees C(!)

But,
a warm surface temperature doesn’t imply a warm atmosphere

50
degrees on the surface could be below zero at head level.

Propulsions
to Mars

Possible
gas-core system could get people to Mars within two weeks
(!!)

Franklin
Chang-Diaz had a proposal that could get people to Mars in
half the time available now, which is three months

Oregon
chapter is also interested in Martian lava tubes.

Members
of the Oregon chapter are also interested in and have done
research on the idea of using Martian lava tubes as human
habitats.They
may be receptive to some kind of joint project on this subject
in the future, such as a cave rover or an informational/research
web site.

Need
to get logo on for the Mars Party

Banner
could be very expensive (for color banners)

Banner
does not need to be complicated, only a simple design

MSOH
logo on left, large letters on white background, with the
Mars Society main logo

Would
be nice to go have a meeting at a star party sometime

Could
coordinate with stargazing

Held
at the George Observatory at Brazos Bend State Park

Chris’
NASA project could be on the Mars Sample Return mission

Only
part of the entire package

A
submittal was sent to JPL, and they seem interested

Need
to know what Bridget’s plans are for Rice, and if she is going
to start a chapter there, or just join our chapter

Had
a brief discussion on why it is easier, from a propulsion standpoint,
to get to Mars from LEO than it is to get to the Moon from LEO

At
Mars, you have a substantial atmosphere and plenty of gravity
to slow you down

The
Moon has weak gravity and no atmosphere

You
must use all propellant to slow down at the Moon

At
Mars, the atmosphere and increased gravity can do the work
for you.

Meeting
adjourned at 4:55 PM

July
22, 2001

Freeman
Memorial Branch Library 16602 Diana Lane,
Houston, TX

Attendees:
Chris Barnes, Stacy Clifford

The
meeting was called to order at 2:30 July 22, 2001.

First
order of business was the review of the MSOH website and making
suggestions for some minor changes to the site.Among the changes were:

Change
the button for ‘National Society’ to the Mars Society official
icon

Need
to put in announcement of a 2nd Mars Party for the
arrival of the Mars Odyssey spacecraft in October.

Need
to determine when exactly the spacecraft will enter Mars orbit

Announcement
and plans need to be scheduled early so peoples’ schedules
are set

Place
still unknown (possibly Rice again??)

Can
Bebe check into this one?

Hotels
are a possibility

Events
are still unknown (need to plan early)

This
time, MSOH should have center spotlight

Interested
in talking to CLA-NSS for assistance

Marianne
had some preliminary ideas for the Mars Odyssey party, but details
were not available.Chris
L. Barnes had an idea for the name of the party… “2001.. A
Mars Odyssey”.

The
Mars Odyssey probe will be looking for water on Mars.We wish that there was a concurrent lander, but we will
take what we can get.

Talked
about the current Martian dust storm.This storm was apparent from the Hubble Space Telescope
picture.At this
time, according to reports, the dust storm has nearly engulfed
the entire planet and has raised the Martian atmosphere temperature
by as much as 30 degrees C.(!!)

Has
the Texas Mars Society conference been postponed indefinitely?We have not heard anything from the San Antonio chapter.If the conference is to be posted at a later time, we would
like to know about it.

What
projects will the MSOH take on in the future?Will we take on some of the projects on the old website?There was a project that was written by Francis Govers
on the Mars Direct Animation which has not been discussed at any
recent meetings.

It
is a foregone conclusion that the project for YAMA and the Mars
Society Mission Control room are dead.YAMA has been taken off our website, and the Mars Society
Mission Control room has already been created.

Stacy
expressed interest in a project to investigate the possible existence
of ice in Martian caves and lava tubes
as outlined in his paper (see link on the Projects page).
A rover capable of exploring underground would nicely compliment
Mars Odyssey's search for water in the surface soil. Ice
can be found in the shallow lava tubes in New Mexico year round,
so if ice can be found in caves in the middle of a hot desert
on Earth, then why not in a cold environment like the Martian
surface?If
we do take on this project, should we call the project the ‘Mars
Underground’ project??

Dues
– Even though dues are paid for the MSOH, dues still need to be
paid to the main organization of the Mars Society.Dues are $50/year.

Need
to put on the meeting announcements that we have current meeting
minutes to look up.

These
will be sent once confirmation of the new minutes have been
posted on the MSOH website

Meeting
time/place:Chris
L. Barnes has received requests to change the meeting time and
place of the MSOH each month.The requests have been for a later time and a place more
‘centrally’ located, due to long travel times by some members.All of the requests are for different times/places.If the meeting time is to be changed, it needs to be at
a time when all officers can be present.Currently, Chris cannot make any meetings at weekday nights,
due to conflicts with his work schedule.Chris and Stacy cannot make it on Friday nights. Another
suggestion, from Marianne Dyson, was to move back the meeting
time from 2PM to 4PM.However,
the library closes at 5PM, so meetings would be short.Average meetings last roughly 2 hours.A 3PM change would be reasonable.

Flyers:Bebe has created a MSOH flyer that was presented at the NASA
Budget Town Hall meeting, and has suggested that flyers be put
up at JSC and the JSC contractor buildings.Chris has suggested talking to each contractors’ and JSC’s
PAO (Public Affairs Office) to get the Mars Society recognized
and listed as an approved organization.Otherwise, JSC nor the contractors will allow flyer posting
by the Mars Society.There
is a possible conflict of interest for those members that are
JSC and contractor employees, and that issue is being resolved
at this time.

There
are other places that the MSOH can post.A group meeting needs to be held to determine all the places
that flyers can be posted.One good way is to have the MSOH registered with the Clear
Lake and Houston Chamber of Commerce as a non-profit organization.A permit may be needed.

Bridget
Galloway is planning to form a new chapter at Rice.Should we be separate or linked?If we remain separate, both chapters may have continuing
membership problems.It may be beneficial to combine our efforts and work
with any other chapter forming in the Houston area.There was another chapter that was to be formed at the
University of Houston.

Will
Karen Mauer still be performing secretarial duties?If not, then we need to find a new Secretary.

Chapter
President, Chris Barnes, called the meeting to order at 2:40
P.M.

Chris
B. gave a brief history and goals of our and the national organizations'
history and goals for the new members. He went over the
Founding Declaration and explained why we feel it is necessary
for man to go to Mars. Each member and visitor introduced
themselves to the group.

Cynthia
Price introduced herself as the special projects person for Celestis.
They are the company that launches ashes into space. They
have three orbiting memorial satellites launched. She passed
out brochures for Encounter 2001 and passed on the information
that they were giving away a
portion of a Mars meteorite that is worth $5,000.00 on the web
site.
There is a job opening available for anyone interested in an administrative
position.

Chris
B. gave a report on the President's race. Al Gore is in
town today but no one knew where he would be. Bush will
be here in the fall. We need to make plans to attend the
events to help pass the word that there is political support and
a need to send Man to Mars. Gore has stated that he
is not interested right now in sending humans to Mars but would
listen to details.

NASA's
position is that they can't undertake a Mission to Mars until
ISS is up. They don't have the funding or the manpower right
now for both. ISS is about 1-½ years behind schedule.
We are waiting for Russia to launch their module. We should
be able to see developments quickly after that happens.

Stacy
gave an update on his project to visit and explore the lava tubes
in New Mexico. He had a rough sketch of the rover plus some
costs. He will have a more detailed proposal for the next
meeting. We will work on the rover first then add the video
equipment.

Chris
B. explained the Mars Arctic Research Station on Devon Island
and how it will demonstrate that living on Mars is possible.

Chris
Casper gave a report on the monthly summary of Mars chapters activities.
The national organization is forming a chapters council to help
the groups get started and expand.

Chris
C. stated that we can have $600 net raised this year with t-shirt
and book sales. This will help pay for Stacy's project and
other needed items. We need to get a banner and display for events
that we will attend.

On
April 8th the Westside YMCA is holding an organizational event.
Robbie Gaines signed the NSS and MSOH up to have a booth.
In order to be more prepared, we will have an executive meeting
on April 2nd at Chris Casper's home. Directions are printed
below.

We
discussed the Mission to Mars movie. Generally all that
saw it were pleased. We were all glad that it is getting
as much attention as it did. There will be another movie
about Mars out n November starring Val Kilmer and James Cameron
will have his mini-series on television. All of these will
help keep the idea of exploring Mars in people's minds.

Chris
C. reports:
The Mars Society of Houston had a $182 balance at the end of the
January Meeting.

10
copies of The Case for Mars as well as 20 t-shirts have been
donated to the MSOH to jump-start member recruitment. Stacey
presented a preliminary budget outline for the Lava Tube Rover
Project. A more detailed budget will be ready before the
next
meeting.

During
the March Meeting, two "Ares Level" memberships were received,
bringing the total balance to $232.

=============
In preparation for the booth at the April 8 YMCA event,
an executive meeting (all members welcome) will be held on Sunday,
April 2 at 2:00pm. We will put together displays for the
booth so bring whatever Mars stuff you think would be appropriate.
The meeting will be at
Chris Casper's place.

From
I-10: Take the Voss/Bingle exit and head south on Voss to
Westheimer. Turn left on Westheimer. At the
next light (Winrock),
turn left.

From
610 West Loop: Go west on Westheimer. At Winrock, turn right.
Once on Winrock, my apartment (#84) is through the first pedestrian
gate on the right. The easiest place to park may be the
retail complex just before my apartment. Any questions?
Call 713-501-5199

Chapter
President, Chris Barnes, called the meeting to order at 2:30 P.M.
. We held discussions on MarsFest held at Rice University
on December 3, 1999 and what might have happened to the Mars Lander.
We then held discussions on proposed projects for the future.
Among the projects discussed were: helping NSS with their information
booth at movie theatres for the Mission to Mars movie premiering
March 10, 2000; a mall event where tables are set up with various
displays, educational games, teachers information, items for sale,
Mars rover, etc.; and a study of lava tubes in New Mexico using
a remote control vehicle with camera. The final discussion
was a new time, date and place for future meetings. Research
will be done at various area libraries for availability.
It was decided that weeknights are a better time to meet for most
members.

After
the various discussions, elections were held. Chris Barnes
read the officers needed to be elected along with a description
of their duties. Francis Govers was unanimously elected
Vice President at 3:50 p.m. Karen Mauer was unanimously
elected Secretary at 3:52 p.m. Chris Casper was unanimously elected
Treasurer at 3:54 p.m. and Chris Barnes was reelected President
by a unanimous vote at 3:58 p.m.

The
President and Treasurer will decide the amount of the dues.
Last year's dues were set at $1.00 and that amount will be continued
until new dues are set. The eight members present at the
meeting paid their $1.00 dues for a total of eight ($8.00) dollars.
Forty-eight ($48.00) dollars was collected at MarsFest by the
sale of Mission To Mars. Two copies of The Case for Mars
were also sold.

Karen
needs to email copies of the minutes to Chris Barnes in order
to open a chapter bank account The President and Treasurer
will open one this month.

The
meeting was adjourned at 4:02 p.m.

Minutes
of June Meeting

99
ISDC - Chris Barnes informed the chapter of the message sent to
him from
Bruce McKenzie. In the letter, Bruce expressed his thanks
to the Mars
Society of Houston for their participation and to Chris Barnes
for organizing
the Mars Track at the ISDC. The Mars Track was one of the
most successful
tracks in the conference, drawing in many people..filling the
room many
times. Bruce also said in his letter that all the chapter
members that put
in their time to man the Mars Society booth are to be commended.
An article
expressing thanks will be posted in New Mars - A journal of the
Martian
Frontier. The members who helped man the Mars Society booth
are:

Chris
Barnes, James Pruett, Meredith Monaghan, John Harp, and John McKnight.
Special thanks goes out from the MSOH to Jim Burk from the Seattle
area
chapter of the Mars Society for helping man the Mars Society booth.

As
of this date, no treasurer's report has been made regarding the
money made
at the ISDC. After the meeting, John McKnight reported that
the MSOH has 19
'The Case for Mars' books left over from the conference, as well
as 50
brochures, a handful of 'Mars or Bust' buttons, several Mars Society
pencils,
and a few shirts.

Francis
Govers has talked to Bob Zubrin over a Mars Direct VR demo to
be
presented at the second Mars Society conference this August.
He will
represent the Mars Society of Houston and SGI and will work with
various
groups such as Stanford University and NASA/JPL. The demo
will consist of a
30 second version, a 60 second version, and a full 90 second version.
It
will feature several Mars mission concepts including Mars Direct,
Mars
Semi-Direct, and the MERITT concept proposed by Dr. Forward at
the ISDC.
Since Francis has several years experience in VR development and
the machines
to implement this project, he will be in charge of the VR project
as far as
the MSOH is concerned. Once the demo is complete, it will
then be hosted on
the Mars Society of Houston web site. Any assistance by
artists as well as
computer scientists is appreciated.

Another
core topic of this meeting was to stress cooperation between
different organizations in order to meet our goal. Many
members of the
National Space Society (NSS) were present at this meeting to start
a full
cooperation of the NSS and the Mars Society. It is agreed
that both sides
share a common goal, and therefore must work together to achieve
that goal,
which is to create a spacefaring civilization that will not only
live on
Earth, but on Mars and other places in space. Since both
local chapters
share many members, it has been decided that it is in the best
interest of
both to work together.

There
was some discussion on TransHab and it's danger of unjustly being
eliminated from the NASA budget. The Mars Society has mobilized
to save
TransHab, and has come under fire by a group called NASA Watch.
Apparently
the group is an independent group not affiliated with NASA, and
disagrees
with the Mars Society on several occasions. Everyone agreed
that such
blatant flaming on the Internet between space advocacy groups
serves no
purpose. Such talking stands in the way of progress.
All space advocacy
groups must work together to be recognized as a serious political
force, and
public disagreement will get us nowhere. If there is a disagreement,
then it
should be discussed between members of both organizations, not
by flaming the
other.

Since
TransHab technology will benefit future Mars exploration as well
as for
the Station, there is some discussion to try to get Donna Fender,
the project
manager for TransHab, to join the Mars Society. At the very
least get her
involved in Mars Society activities.

The
next meeting of the Mars Society of Houston will convene on July
11th at
2pm. Hyperlinks to the MSOH website will be sent to all
members. Updates on
meeting times can be gathered at the MSOH website.

March 14, 1999

The
chapter web page is finished, thanks to Francis Govers.
The meeting included a showing of the video "Life on Mars", available
at the Johnson Space Center. A "Mars Opposition" party was
planned for May 1st - further details would be forthcoming. (Note:
Mars Opposition = closest approach of Mars to the Earth).
Plans were made to man a booth at the ISDC, May 28-30th.
Robert Zubrin will speak May 29th at the conference.

Next
Meeting: Plans for other summer conferences.

January 10, 1999

Our
first week at the Silicon Graphics facilities! Francis Govers
provided a tour of part of the building. Agenda issues included
the appointment of several officers: Meredith Patterson, Treasurer;
John Harp, Secretary. Meredith should be establishing a
bank account for chapter funds by next meeting.

Next
Meeting: Preparations for the ISDC conference will be discussed.

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